FEBRUARY 18, 2010 ISSUE
Out of Work? Local Census Office Still Hiring
North Carolina’s unemployment rate sits at 11.2 percent as of late January, according to the Employment Security Commission of North Carolina. Short-term work, however, is available through the U.S. Census Bureau Local Census Office in Boone, which supports 2010 Census operations in eight counties—Ashe, Avery, Burke, Caldwell, McDowell, Mitchell, Watauga and Yancey.
Most of the full-time and part-time positions available are for enumerators (also called census-takers), and close to 1,000 people will be hired in the eight counties, said J.P. Greene, local census office manager.
He did not have numbers for how many people have already been hired.
Most of the positions will last from four to six weeks, and pay starts at $11.50 an hour plus mileage, Greene said.
Census questionnaires will be mailed in mid-March and the target date for people to have returned forms is Census Day, April 1.
“Please return your census form when you get it,” Greene reminded.
Enumerators go door-to-door calling on those who have not returned their forms, and the workload is typically greatest in April and May.
To apply to work for the Local Census Office, call 828-832-5920 to schedule a basic skills test, which takes about half an hour, Greene said.
Ideally, employees will work in their own neighborhoods, so those hired represent each local town, community or neighborhood.
“We hire by area, then by test score,” Greene said.
Employees must be at least 18; U.S. citizens or legal residents; pass a background check; be fingerprinted; and pass a written test of basic skills.
“We want to assure people that we’re sending the right people to their houses,” Greene said.
The census, mandated by the Constitution, provides numbers that will help determine how more than $435 billion in federal funds will be distributed back to towns, cities and municipalities in coming years, as well as determining congressional and political lines for each district and state.
For more information, click to www.census.gov or call 828-832-5920.
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